


You Had Me At Hello

by Aislashu



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M, One Shot, Phone Calls & Telephones, Prompt Fic, Short, Shyness, found their phone number in a library book au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 13:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1228930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aislashu/pseuds/Aislashu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a random list of AU prompts, this was born.</p><p>Rei finds a phone number in a library book. Expecting a joke phone line, he's not expecting the answer he gets...</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Had Me At Hello

    The number stared at him from next to a picture of a penguin. Who the heck wrote their phone number in a library book?! And one about penguins, no less! Strange. Sighing, Rei pushed the book aside to open up another he'd grabbed for use in his school research project, but his eyes kept drifting towards the phone number. Who wouldn't be curious, after all? His hand unconsciously drifted towards his phone, and when his fingers brushed it, he blinked from behind his glasses, looking towards it.   
  
    Taking a deep breath to give himself some resolve, he picked up his phone. He punched in the numbers to make himself show up as an Unknown Caller before dialing the remaining digits, lifting the phone to his ear. Really, he was expecting some sort of joke phone line, but then...  
  
    "Hello?" a bright, happy voice chirped in his ear, causing his eyes to widen. His heart raced in his chest...the voice, so bright and happy, male, and...panicking, Rei quickly hung up, setting the phone down on the table quickly, cheeks flushed.   
  
    The person on the other end had sounded...BEAUTIFUL. Swallowing hard, Rei tried to get back to work, pushing the thoughts from his head and trying desperately not to think about the sound of that 'Hello?' that had chirped from the other end. It was just a voice. No face, no name, nothing. From a number out of a library book. Ridiculous.   
  
    Forcing himself to get back to work, he finally got into writing his research paper, the phone number--and voice--momentarily forgotten.   
  
    At least...until the next day. Going through his phone, he saw the number in his Recents list, and couldn't help himself. He had to hear that voice again. And it still had thecode to make his number show anonymously.   
  
    "Hello? Who is it?"   
  
    The voice...it sounded so...HAPPY. So free. Rei loved the sound of it. Again, his heart started to pound in his chest, and he opened his mouth...  
  
    ...only to promptly hang up before saying anything. He couldn't do it. How would he explain himself? 'Hello, I found your number in a library book and thought I should call.' How stupid! Incredibly NOT beautiful. And the boy on the other hand probably hadn't even put it there himself. Likely, it had been done as a prank. Rei was almost sure of it.   
  
    Yet...Rei couldn't stop calling. He called once a day, just to hear the 'Hello?' on the other end. It always sounded happy, never annoyed. Sometimes it would be changed up, with the boy answering 'Hi again!' or 'Gonna talk today?' and even sounding hopeful.   
  
    Rei could never bring himself to say anything, though. How does one explain to a perfect stranger that despite never meeting them, never seeing them, and not even knowing their name, he'd fallen madly, deeply, inexplicably in love with them? Just from the sound of their voice. He berated himself for it every time. But it never stopped him.   
  
    He knew, one day, the person would stop answering. He was dreading that day. He never let himself dwell on that thought, because hearing that 'Hello!' had become almost a pivotal part of his day. It brightened him up every time. But he knew the day was coming soon, he was sure of it.  
  
    But a full week passed...and another. The boy was still answering, and Rei still lacked the courage to get further than calling the boy's number and listening to him speak. Things changed during the third week, however.  
  
    Rei had a particularly bad Track practice, and as he was making his way out of the school, he passed the swim team as they were leaving as well. Wanting...needing to hear that voice again, to make himself feel better, he picked up his phone and pressed the Quick Dial key he'd assigned to the mystery number.   
  
_Aye yai yai I'm your little butterfly, green black and blue making colors in the sky..._  
  
    Rei heard the ringtone coming from behing him and thought nothing of it, until...  
  
    "Hello?" came that bright, chirping voice...  
  
    ....from both his ear and behind him. Heart jumping into his throat, his eyes went wide behind his glasses, and he stopped in his tracks.   
  
    "Hello? You're still there?"  
  
    Slowly, Rei couldn't help himself, twisting his head and upper body to look behind him, seeking out the source of that voice. Finding it in a rather short, adorable pink-eyed blond. He swallowed hard, and watched the blond's eyes widen at the first sound he'd ever heard from the other side of the phone, and then...  
  
    ...the boy looked up. Rei quickly hung up, but the blond had seen the motion, and the look on Rei's face. But then...then that beautiful face split into the largest grin Rei had ever seen, and before he knew what was happening, the blond boy had split from his group of friends and was sprinting the few feet between them, until that smaller body was launched through the air.   
  
    Rei yelped in shock, and then the breath was knocked out of him completely as the blond's chest collided with his own, the boy's arms wrapping around his neck and holding on tightly. Staggering more from the shock of the impact than the weight of the small blond, Rei brought his arms up and around the boy, trembling as they hugged.  
  
    "Oh my god, hi! It's you! I'm Nagisa! What's your name? Can you say your name? Do you not say anything because you can't talk? Hi! I'm Nagisa, did I say that already?" Nagisa spoke excitedly, practically babbling as those pink eyes shined, gazing up at Rei adoringly.   
  
    "I...I'm Rei..." he said, blushing brightly. "I...I'm sorry...for bothering you..."  
  
    "Yay! You can talk!" Nagisa clapped his hands, laughing happily. "I dunno why, but I looked forward to your calls, even if you never talked! I kept hoping one day you would...but you never bothered me! I'm so happy to finally see you, Rei!"  
  
    Rei was stunned at the boy's pure energy and acceptance. He just stared down at the pink-eyed teen staring up at him and flushed, pushing his glasses up his nose with his thumb and middle finger, glancing away momentarily.   
  
    "I...I'm quite happy to see you, too, Nagisa..." Rei said, looking back at the boy.   
  
    Nagisa grinned happily and reached up, placing both hands on Rei's shoulder as he lifted himself up on his tip-toes, then hopped to be able to place a kiss on the bespectacled teen's cheek. Rei touched the spot with his fingers, staring in awe as Nagisa bounced back from him, waving.   
  
    "Call me any time, okay? And talk this time! Promise?"   
  
    "I...I promise," Rei said, nodding slowly.   
  
    Rei watched as Nagisa, grinning happily, went back to his friends and left. Rei stroked the spot Nagisa had kissed, then pulled out his phone, looking down at it as he scrolled down to the number. Removing the digits to make him appear anonymous, he smiled, happy to have a name to put the number to.   
  
    Nagisa.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this little ficlet! I saw the AU list on my tumblr and this came immediately to mind, so here it is! Hopefully this starts the ball rolling on my other fics. :D 
> 
> You can find my tumblr here:   
> http://aislashu.tumblr.com/


End file.
